Drug testing
The maritime industry uniquely has to provide its own emergency services whilst at sea – “all seafarers must be able to respond at any time to an emergency situation” (Oil Companies International Marine Forum Guidelines for the control of drugs and alcohol onboard ship). The industry also has a high awareness of the threat of drug trafficking. There is local legislation on drugs and alcohol (eg USCG, UK Railway and Transport Safety Act 2003), international agreements (eg OPA 90), maritime guidelines (eg ISM and ISPS Codes) and Charter Party Clauses (eg ExxonMobil). The expectation is that shipping companies should have random and emergency ‘for cause’ testing in place, as well as testing during routine medicals. Medscreen’s programme management service mobilises an international network of collecting officers to keep your random alcohol and/or drug screening programmes on target, and our emergency test kits are designed for the occasions when our on-call drug/alcohil testing service cannot be deployed.
